Survey: What conservatives and liberals prioritize when teaching children

Notably, there is agreement across the ideological spectrum regarding the importance of teaching many of these qualities: Responsibility ranks as the most important child-rearing value for every group – consistent conservatives, consistent liberals and those in between. Large majorities in all ideological groups also think it is important for children to learn independence, hard work and good manners.

The areas of ideological agreement and disagreement are revealing. For instance, “helping others” is widely valued as an important quality; three-quarters or more in every ideological group say it is important to teach children to help others. Yet “empathy for others” is more divisive. Fully 86% of consistent liberals say it is important to teach children empathy; far fewer consistent conservatives (55%) agree.